Sunday, May 11, 2008

Best Rest Station along North South Expressway

My brother eased the car to a gentle stop and the deceleration roused me from sleep. Rubbing my eyes i felt my neck was aching from the bad posture i assumed in my sleep. It had been a tiring day thus far.

Waking up at 5.30am, i only managed a mere 2 1/2 hours of sleep. I had to get the earliest bus from JB to KL. My brother would pick me up from there and together we would drive home to celebrate Mother's Day with my mum. If there was any delay we would not be able to make it back in time for dinner.

The fatigue was worsened by the condition of the bus that i took. The polished exterior of the bus (named as Yakin Bagus which means Certainly Good) belied the true nature of a bone-shaker. I should have suspected something was amiss when i saw the seat in front of me that resembled the Leaning Tower of Pisa, easily besting 3.97 degrees of the famed tower.

I could get no good rest from such a bumpy ride, and to make matters worse, the air conditioner (which was making the bus perfectly fit for Eskimos when i first boarded) suddenly decided to give up battling the Malaysian sun. Without any effective ventilation, the full fury of the Equatorial descended upon us, and gave us a lesson on Greenhouse effect.

Sun ray penetrates the huge glass windows and beat on us relentlessly. All passengers became warmer as a result of the baking sun, and we in turn warmed the air inside the bus by emitting infrared radiation. The temperature in the bus continued to rise so long the air remained trapped in the confines of Yakin Bagus.

And then i saw the one thing that bound all Malaysians together, regardless of skin colour.

We all had a sheen of sweat all over us.

Same idea, but those were a lot less desirable

Anyway, I arrived safely at Puduraya Bus Terminal in KL at 1.30pm. My brother picked me up and after a while we stopped by this rest station in Tapah, along North South Expressway.

Alighting the car, i stretched all my limbs, as if it would drive the fatigue away. It didn't.

First we performed the customary (at every rest station that you arrive at) peeing at the rather roomy but poorly designed toilet.

Our glorious role in the Water Cycle

The urinals were placed in such a manner that after you have performed your duty in completing the great Water Cycle, you would get an unhindered side view of a fellow pee-er as you turn back, without the benefit of a urinal separator. That was rather embarassing.

Anyway we managed to move on to our next task, which was to obtain nourishment. We went to this section that sold local produce, which in Tapah's case were Guava, Jambu air (Water/Rose apple? never heard of these names), and Mango.

But there must had been 20 young nubile chicks ladies of all colours, stood united as Malaysian, in an absolute cacophony that was surprisingly melodious, calling out to this adonis who returned from Singapore. To buy their fruits (sighs, heavily).

The stall was totally unremarkable to a fault. I bought one packet of Guava and another packet of Jambu Air. And in spite of me saying that i only wanted light sprinkles of sour plum powder, she coated them with so much powder that puts chinese opera artiste's make up to absolute shame.

Petrol from KL to Penang: RM100Toll fee: RM 60A packet of Guava: RM 1.50A packet of Jambu air with too much sour plum powder: RM 1.50Levitating in unabashed glee from 20 chicks calling you handsome at the same time: PRICELESS

So, go to Tapah rest station today!

*Above quoted figures are purely guess-timate (really bad ones) except for the RM 1.50 items and of course, the PRICELESS one